Crucial win for Ellon

It was their first Caley 2 North game victory since beating Stornoway on October 31, enabling them to move out of the league’s bottom two.

Director of rugby Gareth Kemp was delighted with the victory and promised the team would now make progress in the bid to save their season

He said: “This was a strong performance from a team who really wanted to win. We now have the opportunity to pull away from the drop zone, as we have two very winnable games to come in the next three weeks.

“We have Lochaber and Shetland, the two bottom sides, at home and should other results go our way, we could find ourselves in mid-table by the end of the season.”

Ellon hit the ground running, scoring an early try through their strong back division when winger John Keith took a great catch before setting off on a mazy run to open the scoring.

Centre Ali Addy kicked the conversion to give the home side a 7-0 lead, only to fall a point behind when Moray kicked a penalty followed by an unconverted try.

Undaunted, Ellon surged back to regain the lead after stand-off Stuart Cruickshank sold a dummy before releasing Addy for a fine score.

Addy added the conversion and was similarly successful with a penalty to make it 17-8 at half-time.

The Elgin side started the second half on the offensive, taking the play to Ellon in a sustained 20-minute burst of pressure, leading to a converted try, making it 17-15 and very much game on.

But the Meadows men held their nerve, hitting back through the excellent Addy who outpaced the visiting defence to touch down. The same player kicked the conversion.

Ellon made the game safe in the closing minutes when lock Doug Sharp showed a clean pair of heels to the stunned Moray back division, giving his side a welcome bonus point for their four tries.

Ellon can now look forward to Saturday when they meet Lochaber who will no doubt still be reeling after losing at home to Shetland, giving Ellon a golden opportunity to record back-to-back wins.